What happened
- On 12 February, we confronted Shell with the devastation from their fossil fuel driven disasters.
- Activists took a hammer to an ‘exhibition’ surrounding Shell’s London headquarters, displaying the once-cherished belongings of Filipino communities that were wrecked by typhoons that have struck the Philippines.
- The possessions – which include a sofa, television, shoes and a teddy bear – were exhibited in 19 display cases, encircling the Shell Centre, many of which were flooded with water, to show the damage caused by supercharged typhoons.
- The protest art installation – Breaking Point: Untold Stories of Climate Loss and Damage – highlights how oil and gas companies are fueling the climate crisis and intensifying extreme weather events that are destroying lives and livelihoods of people around the world.
- We’re calling for the government to force big polluters like Shell to stop drilling and start paying for the devastation they are causing around the world.
We are at Breaking Point
2024 was the hottest year on record, bringing unprecedented storms, floods and wildfires. Millions of people around the world – including here in the UK – faced displacement and devastation by extreme weather. Yet, fossil fuel giants like Shell who are driving the crisis continue to bank billions and obstruct change.
Countries like the Philippines are bearing the brunt of its harm. Despite representing only a tiny fraction of total global emissions, the Philippines is one of the most climate impacted countries on earth.
Every time climate-supercharged typhoons hit the Philippines, once-cherished homes and belongings are destroyed. Filipinos are resilient, but no one should be forced to endure the heartbreak of losing everything, over and over again.
Even resilience has a breaking point
These are the beloved belongings we delivered to Shell’s doorstep to honour the untold stories of climate loss and damage from the Philippines.
Too often, the stories of loss, damage and resilience from people experiencing the worst impacts of climate change are ignored. Through Breaking Point, we want to honour those stories. This video shares the experiences and demands of Bon, Manuel and Ronalyn.
“In the past, it was not like this. When it rained it was minor – the effects were not this severe … Companies like this must be stopped, [they] are only focused on making profit”
– Ronalyn Carbonel
Ronalyn sent her flood-wrecked sofa to London as part of a Greenpeace protest. Read her story here.
Something must be done
Polluters like Shell have the billions necessary to pay for communities like Bon, Manuel, and Ronalyn’s to rebuild, yet they don’t pay a penny for the loss and damage they knowingly cause.
Please can you sign our petition calling on the government to make oil giants pay? If enough of us sign, we can convince the Prime Minister to stand up to Big Oil at this crucial moment in the fight against the climate crisis.
Greenpeace’s approach to protest
Our action was entirely peaceful and we took great care to ensure no members of the public were endangered and that no damage was done to any building.
It was carried out by highly trained activists, who had tested and practiced smashing the exhibition cases to ensure their actions were safe. We took every precaution to secure the area and ensure that all activists and members of the public were safe. To be certain that no shards of glass had been left anywhere after the protest had finished, we had members of the team go back to Shell’s HQ after we had left to double check that all the glass had been cleared away.
Non-violent direct action is a core Greenpeace principle and our actions have proved essential to the success of campaigns in exposing environmental crimes, confronting unjust activities and stopping environmental destruction.